Christian 'Ex-Gays' Brainwash Thousands

[marmar]

from Intelligence Report, via AlterNet:



Christian 'Ex-Gays' Brainwash Thousands

By Casey Sanchez, Intelligence Report. Posted December 15, 2007.

Can the anti-gay Christian Right's "sexual reorientation therapy" be stopped?




John Smid has a high school diploma, a minister's license and five acres of land outside Memphis, Tenn., where he "cures" homosexuals. For most of the past two decades, Smid's residential "ex-gay" program was known as Love in Action. The majority of the young men who entered the program came from the kind of conservative religious upbringing where being gay is a sin that will cast a person out of church, family and home. To rid themselves of "unwanted same-sex attractions" they paid $1,000 a month, with some staying at the facility for years.

At LIA, as it was known, staff would lead clients in group sessions to trace out childhood trauma alongside lessons in throwing footballs, changing motor oil and learning how to cross their legs in a manly fashion. In much of the world of ex-gay ministries, same-sex attractions are thought to result from childhood sexual abuse or parents who failed to instill masculinity in their sons. Since the goal is to rewire parent-child dynamics, LIA clients were forbidden to call their families. Those who worked in Memphis while living on the LIA compound had to navigate around a "forbidden zone" that covered nearly half the city, keeping them miles away from its handful of adult book stores. They were ordered to drive straight to and from work without speaking to strangers.

"On our way to work, we saw two cars get into an accident. We actually debated over whether we should stop," said Peterson Toscano, who lived at LIA for two years in the early 1990s and now helms an ex-gay survivors' movement. They didn't stop. "Looking back, I see how brainwashed we were. We were sick the whole day. We could have helped the people."

Toscano still has the 374-page LIA handbook that governed every day he spent trying to become heterosexual. Tom Otteson, another former client of Smid's, said he was told that "it would be better if I were to commit suicide than go back into the world and become a homosexual again." In 2005, Smid tried to clarify those comments to a reporter from the pro-gay Memphis magazine Family & Friends: "I said , 'It would almost be better if you weren't alive than to return back to the life that you have struggled so much to leave.'" ......(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.alternet.org/story/70491/

[gratuitous]

1. Better dead than gay

I think that says just about all that needs to be said about this horrible, misguided, deadly, and yes, sinful, "ministry." Whatever is in action at John Smid's Shiny Happy Tennessee Concentration Camp, it sure as the world isn't Love.

[wtmusic]

2. I don't change my own oil or play football

so I must be gay. :crazy:

[moggie]

9. I change my own oil, but I don't like sports

I suppose I must be bi.

These clowns have such a cartoonish view of orientation. Lessons in throwing footballs: right, because all gay men throw like girls, don't they? And no gay man could possibly have an interest in football: big, fit men grappling with one another, getting all sweaty and sharing the shower afterwards. That's all 100% heterosexual, since no mincing is involved. :eyes:

[wtmusic]

10. There's hope for you

Football or even rugby or boxing would be the prescription. An ounce of prevention... :crazy:

[moggie]

12. I used to know a guy in an openly gay rugby team

He found rugby a great way to pick up guys, including those who claimed to be straight ("what's the difference between a straight man and a gay man? About six pints").

With my bad knees, rough sports aren't an option, so I'll defeat teh gay by changing even more motor oil.

[wtmusic]

13. I was going to say

I hope someone in Memphis has the wherewithal to start a gay mechanic's football team. D'oh!

[theredpen]

3. I like my homosexuals mesquite smoked rather than cured

$1000 a month to stay with a bunch of self-hating closeted gay men. I'm surprised it doesn't double as a Republican resort.

Seriously, though, I think THIS tidbit highlights how legitimately "Christian" these people are:

"On our way to work, we saw two cars get into an accident. We actually debated over whether we should stop," said Peterson Toscano, who lived at LIA for two years in the early 1990s and now helms an ex-gay survivors' movement. They didn't stop. "Looking back, I see how brainwashed we were. We were sick the whole day. We could have helped the people."

"Curing" gays by turning them into assholes. What an accomplishment. Peter Toscano has his work cut out for him. I wonder if these guys could sue for the harm that was done to them by Smid's organization.

[Name removed]

4. Deleted message

Message removed by moderator. Click here to review the message board rules.

[Deja Q]

31. Ah, but who would you get to hire?

Blackwater is probably hiring...

:yoiks:

[Ilsa]

5. "How 'bout them Cowboys?" Or Steelers. Or Packers. Oh wait. Nevermind. I'm a woman. nt

[I work for workers]

6. I defer to South Park:

http://allabout-sp.net/?p=season11/1102

[yourout]

7. "Love in Action"......I bet.

[madrchsod]

8. johnny boy would try to cure christ

after all,christ had all the "signs" that he was gay...yup, christ had better save himself.

sadly,there`s not a dam thing anyone can do about this quack.

[Elspeth]

11. Hey, maybe he needs a camp for bisexual fruit flies, too.

http://www.suntimes.com/lifestyles/health/689002,CST-NWS-flies10.article

Gene makes fruit flies bisexual: study

December 10, 2007
BY JIM RITTER Health Reporter [e-mail]

A new study is providing insights into the genetics of homosexuality -- at least in fruit flies.

Researchers have discovered a gene involved in homosexual behavior in the tiny flies. They also found a way to turn homosexuality on and off with drugs.

Researchers at the University of Illinois at Chicago have turned straight fruit flies gay.


Humans have a similar gene. But it's unclear what effect, if any, the gene has on homosexual behavior in people, said biologist David Featherstone of the University of Illinois at Chicago.

[knitter4democracy]

14. I've seen what that kind of crap can do to a person.

I had a friend in college that the college made go to the counsellor who thought being gay could be cured. It was an evangelical college, and that prick did real damage to our friend. One of the others in the drama club did some research and found that the counselling wasn't actually required and helped our friend get out of it. He's still in therapy to deal with the fallout ten years later.

As far as I'm concerned, all those running the ex-gay movement should burn in hell.

[msongs]

15. there ya go, pickin' on people of faith again...& obama says glbts are not people of faith nt

[marmar]

16. The McClurkin debacle is a fair target....but I sincerely doubt that Obama said that.

n/t

[undeterred]

17. A camp where they teach you to love football and change your own oil?

That sounds like training camp for Wisconsin women. Sign me up.

[Ellen Forradalom]

18. Do you also learn how to gut a roadkill deer

in ten seconds flat?

[undeterred]

19. And fry it up for dinner

I think that's the advanced class. :hi:

[Ellen Forradalom]

21. Sign me up

Do I bring my own pickup or does the camp provide one?

[undeterred]

23. You have to bring your own

but if you can hotwire someone elses to bring, so much the better!

[Ellen Forradalom]

24. I guess I bring my own shotgun too

Is beer provided?

[undeterred]

25. Its Wisconsin

We provide beer everywhere, even at the rest stops. :beer:

[Ellen Forradalom]

27. Hot and cold running beer in the truck stop restrooms

:rofl:

[undeterred]

28. I think we've successfully hijacked this thread!

:toast:

[Ellen Forradalom]

29. I'll bring the thread down with my shotgun

You gut it and throw it in the back of the pickup.

[undeterred]

30. Then we'll recruit those gay rugby players

to play on our team!

[Ezlivin]

20. Did lesbians also learn to change motor oil and throw footballs?

It seems that Christians only view men as capable of being homosexual.

Either that or they don't mind hot girl-on-girl action.

[treestar]

22. Sort of like way the Victorians overlooked them

They're only women, after all, so it doesn't matter as much if they act "unnatural." :sarcasm:

[Ellen Forradalom]

26. They buy dolls and have tea parties at American Dyke Place. n/t